Card holder



. C. F. Hoor:ER

CARD HOLDER Filed Sept. 13. 1939 July 2 1940.

will!" ,J'fiiliin ATTORN EYS Patented July 2, 1940 UNITED STATES PATENT.i OFFICE CARDi HOLDER Charles F. Hoofer, Chicago, Ill. ApplicationSeptember 13, 1939, Serial No. 294,748

5 Claims.` (Cl. 40--10) This invention relates to improvements in tag orcard holders and especially is concerned with a new and improved type.of holder useful `for holding price tags or advertising cards upon edgeportions of pans, trays andthe like.

It is lan object of the present invention to provide a novel support forcards and advertising `elements which is adapted tofgrip` and to holditself upon edge portions ci' l pans, trays and the like withoutprojecting into `the interior thereof and without interfering with theremoval of the contents therefrom. I

Another object of the present invention is to provide in a tag or a cardholder of the type above mentioned means. for easily removably holding atag or card in upright position adjacent an edge portion of `a pan ortray. A feature of the novel` tagor card holder according to the present`invention is that it includes means for engaging withl and grippingopenings formed in `marginal portions of `the tag or card to be heldwhereby the tag or card engaged with the support is firmly held butreadily disengaged therefrom upon such occasions as it is desirable `tochange or remove 'the card or tag. An advantage ofthe novel card or tagsupport according to this invention over similar devices now in use isits comparative simplicity of construction which suits it insofar asmanufacture is concerned to the requirements of mass productionpermitting manufacture and sale of the device at minimum cost.` Thestructural simplicityof the device is also :advantageous inlthat itminimizes necessity of repairor replacement during use.

Other objects, advantages and features of the new and improved cardholder according to the present invention will be apparent to thoseskilled in this art during the course of the following description.

Regarded in certain of' its broader aspects the novel card holderaccording to the present 1n vention comprises a member havingessentially parallel top and bottom portions, one end of said memberbeing suited to support a card, the opposite end of said membercomprising a surface oblique with respect to said bottom portion of saidmember, and a spring tensioned hook ele-` ment mounted in said memberurged toward the `said oblique` surface thereof.` i l In `order tofacilitate a fuller and more complete understanding of the presentinvention a specific embodiment thereof herein illustrated will behereinafter described, it being clearly understood, however, that theillustrated embodiment, although presently preferred, is provided solelyby Way of example of the practice of this invention and not by way oflimitation thereof except insofar as the invention is recited in thesubjoined claims. 115 Referring then to the drawing, Figure 1issubstantially a perspective view of one of the preferred embodimentsof the present invention showing the device in position of use mountedupon a tray edge, J9

Fig. 2 is essentially a vertical sectional View of the device shown inFig. 1,

Fig. 3 is a topfplan view of the device illustrated in Fig. 1 showingp-arts of the `same in. sectional Fig, 4 is a side elevational View ofthe tag or card holder `with parts of a tray ror pan shown in phantomview, y

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of one of theelements of the card holder,20

Fig. 6 is a front elevational view of another embodiment of the instantinvention,

Fig. 7 is a top plan view of the device shown in Fig. ,6, the card beingshown in sectional View, and

Fig. 8 is substantially a horizontal sectional view of a thirdembodiment of the present invention. l

Referring now to` Figs. 1 to 5 inclusive, it will be perceived that theillustrated preferred embodiment of the present invention generallydesignated by the numeral I0 comprises a'member having a horizontallyextending top portion l I and a substantially parallel` bottom portionI2 connected by a crosspiece i3 having an inclined surface i3d extendingobliquely upwardly from the bottom portion l2. Registry openings Ila andIl'a are formed in the top and bottom portions II and `I2 respectivelyfor slidingly receiving a vertically extending rod` i4' terminating atthe bottom in a head Ma and at the top in a hook element` Mb. The hookelement Illb` normally is urged against the oblique surface i3d of thecross piece I3 by the spring l5 sleeved around the rod and abuttingagainst the head d5 Ita thereof and parts of the top `portion `Ill ofthe support member.

The end of the top portion Il, distal relative to the `.cross `piece'l3,is provided with a transversely extending furrow `defined by a bent partof `the top portion Il and by the face plate 16. It is especially to benoted that the furrow is curvilineal in shape for reasons whichhereinafter will more fully be apparent,

InFigs. 2 and 4 is illustrated the preferred 55 mode of attaching anovel card holder according to the present invention to a tray or panedge portion, in these views the pan being designated f by the referencecharacter A and the curved edge portion thereof by the referencecharacter B. It is especially to be noticed that the hook element Mbpresses the curved lip Bof the pan A toward the oblique surface 3a ofthe cross piece I3 whereby the device is held substantially xedly inposition upon the pan as shown.

In the above described embodiment of this invention the card or tag C isheld within the transversely extending curvilineal furrow |60, by

reason of the intrinsic resiliency of the material from which the cardor tag is formed whereby it presses thereagainst and frictionally`engages with end portions of the furrow sides. In the hereinafter to bedescribed embodiments of this invention other means for holding the cardwithin the furrow will be disclosed.

,Referring now to Figs. 6 and 7 particularly, it

will be seen that the therein illustrated embodiment of this inventioncomprises a member having a lower. portion 20 and an upper portion 2|connected by a cross piece 22 having an inclined outer facesubstantially corresponding to the upper and lower portions of themember and cross piece referred to in the embodiment of the inventionillustrated in Figs. l to 5 inclusive. The member is similarlyattachable to edge portions of a tray or pan. 'The furrow defined bybent rparts of the upper portion 2| of the supporting member is, .inthis rembodiment of the present invention, 'curvilineal in horizontaloutline and end parts of the front portion 25 over said member areextended in line with the furrow and bent inwardly to provide lugs25a'receivable in and engageable with corresponding Y openings C formedin 'the card C. It will be evident that in this embodiment of thepresent invention not only is frictional engagement between parts of thecard and edgeportions of the furrow relied upon .to assurer'm holding ofthe card, but also there wall of 'the furrow isstruck by a punch to pro--vide inwardly extending formations 32 for 'gripping and engaging withmarginal portions -of the card C pressing the same against the frontface -3I ofthe furrow .essentially as shown.. In this embodiment of thepresent invention the card is held firmly and substantially irremovablyin place within the furrow as contrasted to the above described meansfor mounting the cards whereby the cards might be removed and replacedwith ease.

It will be evident to those skilled in this art that "the presentinvention provides novel means forsupportingprice tags and advertisingmaterial upony edge portions of pans or trays whereby the supportingstructure does not come in con.- tact with the' contents rof the tray orpan and in no wise interferes with the removal of the contentstherefrom.

It is to be understood of course that this invention is capable ofextended application and is not confined to the precise illustratedforms nor described construction and, therefore, such changes andmodifications may be made therein as do not affect the spirit of theinvention no-r exceed the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus described the present invention, What it is desired tosecure by Letters Patent is:

1. A card holder comprising a member having essentially parallel top andbottom portions, one end of said member being suited to support a card,the opposite end of said member comprising a surface oblique lwithrespect to said bottom portion of said member, and a spring tensionedhook ,element having a downturned free end portion facing the obliquesurface, mounted in said member urged toward said surface.

2. A card holder comprising a supporting member having formed therein atransversely extending curvilineal furrow for receiving portions of acard, and integral formations near the ends of said furrow for engagingand holding a card positioned therin, said formations comprising lugsextending in line with said furrow, bent inwardly at the ends forengagement with openings formed in the card.

3. A card holder comprising a member having spaced horizontallyextending arms and an integrally formed crosspiece connecting said arms;a vertically slidingly mounted hook element, mounted in registeringopenings formed in Said arms, forfgripping objects positioned betweensaid element and said crosspiece; and means on said member for holding acard, said means comprising a curvilineal furrow transversely extendingacross an end portion of said member for receiving portions of a card,and integral formations near the ends of said furrow for engaging a cardpositioned therein.

4. A card holder comprising a member having spaced lhorizontallyextending arms and an integrallyformed crosspiece connecting said arms;a vertically slidingly mounted hook element,

mounted in registering openings formed in said arms, for grippingobjects positioned between said element and said crosspiece; and meanson said member for holding a card, said means comprising a curvilinealfurrow transversely extending across an end portion of said member forreceiving portions of a card, and integral formations near the ends ofsaid furrow'for engaging and holding a card positioned therein, saidformations comprising punched portions ofl said member extending withinsaid furrow engaging corresponding openings in the card.

5. A card holder comprising a member having spaced horizontallyextending arms and an integrally formed crosspiece connecting said arms;a vertically slidingly mounted hook element, mounted in registeringopenings formed in said arms, for gripping objects positioned betweensaid element and said crosspiece; and means on said member for holding acard, said means comprising a curvilineal furrow transversely extendingacross an end portion of said member for receiving portions of a card,and integral formations near 'the ends of said furrow for engaging andholding a card positioned therein, said formations comprising lugsextending in line with said furroW, bent inwardly at the ends forengagement with openings formed in the card.

CHARLES F. HOOFER.

